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Brandon Marshall trashes former Dolphins receiving coaches

Add Karl Dorrell and Ike Hilliard to the lengthy list of those who no longer have any use for Brandon Marshall.

Marshall, whose negativity and inability to get along with his quarterbacks cast a pall over the Dolphins locker room last year _ and whose incessant drops and ‘me’ attitude left most fans thankful when he was traded to Chicago over the offseason _ has made Dorrell and Hilliard his latest foils as he has continued to point blame at everyone but himself for his two so-so seasons in Miami.

Marshall told the Chicago Tribune in a story published Sunday that he had expected to improve as a receiver when he moved from Denver to Miami via trade in 2010 but that he never got the coaching he needed.

“To be honest [when I arrived in Miami] I was like, ‘You know, I need some coaching. Right now I’m coming off my natural ability. I want a coach who’s played the position or played the game before, who knows and understands the receivers position. So they can take me and my world to a whole other level,'” Marshall said. “I haven’t had a good coach as far as that receiving position as long as I’ve been in the NFL . . . As far as technique and someone who understands the game, the last time I had a good receiving coach was DJ McCarthy in college.”

Dorrell, who coached Dolphin receivers in 2010 before moving over to quarterbacks last year, had a solid career as a receiver at UCLA, catching 108 passes for 1,017 yards from 1982-86. Hilliard, the assistant receivers coach under Steve Bush last year, was an All-American receiver who went on to play 12 years in the NFL with the New York Giants (1997-2004) and Tampa Bay (2005-08), totaling 546 receptions for 6,387 yards and 35 touchdowns.

Neither Dorrell nor Bush ever played in the NFL.

Davone Bess has been effusive in his praise of Dorrell over the years, crediting him with taking Bess, an undrafted free agent who played in a free-wheeling but largely undisciplined offense at Hawaii, and turning him into one of the top slot receivers in the NFL. Brian Hartline, a fourth-round pick in 2010 who left Ohio State after his junior year, is also a much better receiver than when he arrived.

Had a chance to spend a few minutes with CBS analyst Solomon Wilcots when he visited Dolphins camp last Thursday. Wilcots and former Green Bay receiving great Sterling Sharpe famously gave Marshall a hard time back in 2010 when he was unable to finish a catch-and-run in a Sunday night game against the New York Jets. Wilcots reiterated last week he was convinced Marshall was out of shape at that early point of the season, and expressed his view that the Dolphins are better off now without the gifted but troubled receiver.

For now, Chicago is embracing Marshall, who gives them the hope that what has long been a subpar receiving corps might finally be able to hold its own against the likes of Detroit and Green Bay. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes before things begin to go south.